Published 6:30 am, Thursday, January 3, 2008

He has thoughts of his death coming while he is playing the sport he loves, the sport in which he was blessed with the physical talent to excel.

Johnson, who played in his first college basketball game at the Erwin Center on Wednesday night, thinks about dying on that very court.

"Every now and then, but not to the extent where I think about giving up the game," Johnson said after he and the Texas Longhorns beat Texas Christian 67-59.

Johnson has these thoughts because six months ago he was diagnosed with an undisclosed heart condition — one that he talks about but said he can't quite pronounce by its medical term. That's OK. He doesn't have to tell anyone exactly what it is.

Just knowing it makes him think about life and death tells us all we need to hear. This is serious.

After six months of monitoring, Johnson's doctor cleared him last week to play in games. The 6-7 freshman from Aldine had been cleared to practice since September but forbidden to participate in games until the Horned Frogs came to town. Makes one wonder if the doctor ever saw a Rick Barnes practice. (For the record, he has.)

It might be awhile before Johnson knows how to give that type effort at this level.

Filling a hole

It might also be awhile before Longhorns fans see how good Johnson is, but Barnes knows he will make a difference for a team starving for an inside presence.

"He gives us something that we need," Barnes said.

On this night, Johnson started at power forward, producing five points (on 2-of-6 shooting) and five rebounds in 21 minutes.

His presence opened the door for Damion James to move to his natural position on the wing, and the sophomore responded with a career-high 29 points and 14 rebounds. Good thing, too, as the Longhorns were without guard A.J. Abrams, who missed the contest because of a sprained ankle suffered in practice.

Texas (12-2) got a key contribution from reserve walk-on Ian Mooney, who looks like he'd have a tough time being picked for an intramural squad. He played 14 minutes, and though he scored only two points and grabbed just one rebound, any monitor device you choose would show he topped the Longhorns in energy and hustle.

"Heart will beat talent every time," Barnes said.

Back to heart again are we?

It is something that will be part of the Gary Johnson story as long as he is a player. He said he would love to leave it be-

hind, not think about it. But he can't do that yet. And neither can we, even if, as expected, he starts to make more of a difference on the court.

There certainly have been more impressive freshman debuts in recent memory at Texas.

T.J. Ford had 14 assists and seven rebounds against a ranked Arizona squad in 2001. Daniel Gibson had 11 points and five assists, and LaMarcus Aldridge posted 10 points and nine rebounds in a blowout victory over Texas State in their first game. Kevin Durant scored 20 points in 20 minutes in a rout over Alcorn State last season.

All are NBA starters.

Johnson, who wears No. 1 as a tip of the cap to former Houston prep stars Gibson (No. 1) and Ford (No. 11), isn't thinking that far ahead. Just getting through his first college game — being able to do it — made his less-than-memorable statistical night an evening he will never forget.

Nervous but proud

His father, an uncle and his high school coach were in attendance.

"They're scared every time I step out on the court," Johnson said.

He was nervous, too, but so happy to be out there that at times he found himself smiling for no reason. Maybe he was taking it all in when he failed to get back on defense a couple of times on plays that resulted in TCU baskets.

"There's a lot that I didn't do that I could have done, that I should have done," said John-son, who gave his play a 'D' grade.

But he made it through this step. That's the important thing.

Rare though the thoughts may be, let's hope that each step he takes leads to less thinking about what could go wrong.